Searching For Echoes of the Past
by warorpeace
Summary: One can never forget their past, nor can they fully remember it. Hiccup always saw echoes of his past, and when he decides to follow them, what could possibly go wrong? His live have always been motived by the fateful night his mother was taken away, and just like it drove him to bring down the Night Fury, it drove him to leave Berk. One-shot preview of my upcoming HTTYD fanfiction


**_AN: Hello fellow readers. For those waiting for the next chapter of How To Become a Dragon Chief i apologize for the delay. Things kept me away from polishing and publishing the next chapter (namely a birthday, this preview and a upcoming one-shot post-HTTYD and pre-Riders of Berk. This piece of work is only a preview of an upcoming fanfiction idea (yes, for all of you eager to hear it, this fiction WILL BE A HEATHERCUP one) that i'll work up once the HTTYD 2 DVD is released. I've had in my mind this scene for quite awhile and i decided to write it down to give you guys a taste of this new idea (and it helped that many of you support the idea of a Heathercup fanfiction)_**

**_For those wondering, Windwalker is an OC dragon from an OC species called the White Fury that will be introduced in the next chapter of How To Become a Dragon Chief. though whether he breathes ice or fire will change across my fics, i plan to include him in most of them. he would be a dragon with a similar build to the Night Fury (hence why they would be considered cousins) have 4 wings, although shorter than a Night Fury's. He also has a distinct ability no other dragon has, but i'll leave it foryou guys find out what ability is that._**

**_Without further ado:_**

**_ANIII: for some reason when i uploaded the file, the entire chapter glued up. for those who read it like that and found difficult in doing so i am so so sorry. I thank fanfictionmakermachine for pointing out the issue._**

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Hiccup would be panicking if it wasn't for Windwalker reassuring him. He and Heather had been flying North with their drove, still looking for his mother. Even if it had passed a year since he left Berk to search for her he would not give up. Something inside him was telling his mind that she was still alive, and North had been the only place he didn't go looking for her.

They had been peacefully flying when out of nowhere this mysterious rider appears, looking like he was floating on the clouds. Then soon after that guy disappeared a drove of dragons attacked them, trying to grab him and Heather. The dragons didn't manage to pry him off from Toothless only because of Windwalker, but his girlfriend (he could call her that, couldn't he? After all they were together for a few months, and had kissed before.) did not share the same luck. A Raincutter, a species he discovered recently, managed to tear her off from Mistyeyes, her Flightmare.

Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, Barf and Belch were fighting off any dragons that tried to come near him and Toothless, while Windwalker and Mistyeyes were flying near him. He was desperately trying to build up a plan to rescue Heather while at the same time trying to not lose sight of the dragon that had her in her claws.

'So, what's the plan? Our drove won't be able to hold off these dragons much longer' Windwalker asked him, a little of worry escaping through his voice. Hiccup suddenly had a flashback, recalling how his dragons had to hold off the Flightmare until he and Heather managed to train it.

He noticed they were coming near a small island. What was strange about it was the ice formation encrusted on the land, as if a huge version of Windwalker had shot ice on it. He noticed the wild dragons were heading toward there, and concluded it must be some kind of Nest, like Dragon Island was. This only meant that he was running out of time to build a plan and rescue her.

"Well…" he began talking while building up a plan, "Mistyeyes can shoot its paralysis mist on that dragon and it would freeze, releasing Heather in the process. You would go grab her while the dragon would fall on that island, meaning there would be no risk of it drowning in the ocean" he explained and the white dragon nodded in return.

"Mistyeyes" he called the Flightmare, receiving its attention. Once the dragon came near him he instructed it. "When I give the signal I need you to shoot your paralysis mist on the Raincutter holding Heather." He saw the hesitant look in the dragon's eyes and quickly added: "Don't worry, nothing will happen to her" he reassured the blue dragon. After a few seconds the dragon nodded, confirming his participation on Hiccup's plan..

He quickly stole a glance to Windwalker and once they locked gazes Hiccup nodded. "Mistyeyes paralysis mist" he yelled the command and both dragons dived. The Flightmare released the mist just when they were near an entrance and froze the dragon. Not a second after the Raincutter released Heather Windwalker grabbed her with his paws. As he had predicted, the dragon that had kidnapped her crashed into the ground, surprisingly making the other wild dragons stopped their attack and go check on him.

Unfortunately there was no way Hiccup and his drove could head back, and he needed to land to check out Heather to see if she had any injuries; because of this they kept going forward, hoping that this tunnel would have an exit. Once they finally reached the end of the tunnel Hiccup gasped at the sight. The place was beautiful.

There were numerous waterfalls surrounding the ice walls and ponds under them; the fauna was colorful and diverse, full of different plants and fruits, making it look like some sort of safe haven. The ice walls reflected the sunlight coming from the small hole on top of it, making the whole place be bright and shine. Here inside was a complete different world from the desolate landscape near the outside of this island.

Hiccup soon snapped out of his trance when Toothless grunted, trying to show him something. He saw that the Night Fury was showing a patch of land big enough for all their dragons to land. Quickly he directed them to land there so he could check on Heather. The mysterious rider they met earlier could wait.

Toothless barely landed when he hopped off from him and threw his helmet on the ground. As soon as his foot was on the ground he engaged into a run, heading toward Windwalker, who had just landed putting Heather on the ground. She barely had time to stand before Hiccup enveloped her into a bear hug, his frantic breathing exhaling on her neck.

As quickly as he hugged her he released her to check on any injuries. When she recovered from her daze she spoke up to sooth Hiccup's worries down, "Hiccup, Hiccup!" she called him until his eyes stopped checking every inch of her, searching for wounds, to look at her own green eyes. "I'm okay Hiccup, really. I'm not injured, just a little sore" she said as she cupped his face with her hands.

He tried to take deep breaths to calm down, his erratic breathing slowing with this action. Looking at her green eyes and hearing from her that she was alright allowed him to quell his worries. "A-are you sure? Not even a scratch?" he asked, still needing to be reassured. When she nodded he gently held her wrist as he removed her hands from his face. He quickly let go of her arms to envelop her into another hug, this time a long embrace that she happily returned.

"Thanks Gods. I-I was so worried back there, the dragons came out of nowhere and in the blink of an eye you were in that Raincutter's claws. I-I was afraid I'd lose you that moment" he spoke, his voice coming out muffed as his head was leaning on Heather's shoulders. His eyes were slight bright at the thought of losing her just like he lost his mother.

Sensing Hiccup's emotional distress, and his body lightly shaking, she slowly began to stroke his back. She had no doubts he recalled how his mother was taken from him 11 years ago, given how similarly this situation had been. Even she was unsettled by it. If she, who knew dragons did not go always for the kill still panicked when she had been in the claws of that dragon, then the panic Valka must have felt when the 4-winged dragon took her away was beyond what either could imagine. After all, his mother had lived on a world that everyone believed dragons would always go for the kill.

"Shh, I'm here, I'm here. Everything's okay sweetie, we're okay. I'm here, safe in your arms" she spoke softly in his ear, both soothing him and herself. He didn't even register being called be the affective and often teasing nickname Heather gave him weeks ago. When his shoulders stopped shaking she slowly broke their hug to look into his forest-green eyes. She cupped his face, just like she did a moment ago, and spoke again, "I'm okay; they won't let anything happen to me. You won't let anything happen to me" she reassured.

He smiled, thankful that Heather not only was okay, but knew exactly how to sooth him down. Even though she had just been kidnapped they managed to lose themselves when looking into each others eyes. Green met green and the turmoil that just transpired fafed into nothing. Even now she still managed to be mesmerized at looking into his soft green eyes. They closed their eyes as she slowly closed the gap between their faces, and softly pressed her lips onto his. Her hands slid away from his face as she embraced his neck in the process. His hands, who previously were on her shoulders, slowly slid down to hold the small of her back, gently pressing her against him, the fact that they were in an unknown dragon nest no longer bothering their minds.

They shared a romantic deep kiss this moment, and she couldn't stop herself from smiling as her mind recalled how Hiccup came a long way since they first got this close to one another. The first kisses they shared had always been quick, shy pecks, and he always got embarrassed and blushed heavily after it. But, as time passed, he gained confidence and became bolder; and Heather had absolutely no reason to complain. The way he was gently pressing her against him made a wave of warmth flow through her, making her feel like she would melt in his arms. On their first kisses, he barely grasped her body, unlike now.

She did like how timidly they kissed at the beginning, it showed to her how much gentle and respectful Hiccup was and still is. But she liked more how they kissed now, more intimately and boldly. They were teenagers after all, and even though she liked the gentleness of the boy she was kissing, her heart and mind liked more his newly-gained boldness; the closeness of each other's body. She wrapped tighter her arms around his neck, ready to deepen the kiss as they were giving themselves to each other.

Unfortunately their kiss only lasted for a couple of seconds, as the sound of flapping wings and growls made them reluctantly and abruptly come back to reality. Their dragons, who had turned either out of disgust, or to give them some privacy (or in Windwalker's overprotective case, to look out for any threats) circled both riders as numerous wild dragons began to surround them.

Hiccup quickly assumed a battle stance as he grabbed Inferno while Heather was quickly pushed to be behind him. While she was fairly experienced when dealing with dragons, Hiccup was more; since he lived nearly a year with dragons, not to mention the numerous new species he discovered and befriended (or in a few cases tried to, like with the skittish Tide Glider.) Toothless went near him, crouching on the ground and baring his teeth while letting out a low growl. He didn't understand Dragonese (as Windwalker called their language) but Hiccup had no doubts that Toothless was daring any dragon to approach his rider.

What confused him was how Windwalker also hid behind him, instead of assumed a battle stance like he always do. To see the dragon that could be more overprotective of him than both Heather and Toothless together scared made Hiccup's mind scream in alarm. Because of this he lit up Inferno and began waving around, making the approaching dragons back up.

'Hiccup..?' Windwalker called, using an uncharacteristic scared tone. He half-turned his head to the dragon that was at Heather's side to indicate that he had his attention without taking his eyes from the wild dragons in front of him. He didn't have to worry about his sides or his back, since the rest of his drove had them covered yup.

'You do know that we are inside a nest, don't you?' Windwalker asked, and Hiccup nodded in return, 'We are in a Bewilderbeast nest' Windwalker added, confusing Hiccup. While he found out many species in his quest, this Bewilderbeast was one of the few that Windwalker spoke and he had no knowledge.

"And what would a Bewilderbeast look like? Are they as huge as the Red Deaths?" he asked, recalling their brief visit to the Dragon Island's nest. Sometimes he still had nightmares with the horrendous Queen that was behind the raids of Berk. He hoped that, once he found his mother(his brain refused to believe that the dragons killed or ate her) he could go back and end the raids by killing her.

"I'd say slightly bigger. And unlike most dragons, they are ice elementals, like I am" he answered back, surprising Hiccup even more. So far, Windwalker's species, the White Fury, was the only one he knew that had ice as their element. He didn't think there were any other species since his friend never spoke about it. He would have lingered on this trail of thought, wondering if there were other sound species or electrical species or acid ones besides the Thunderdrum and Skrill and Changewing respectively, but a snarl from a Hobblegrunt stopped him.

As soon as he waved his sword, making the advancing Hobblegrunt step back, he noticed how every dragon was eyeing Windwalker, and not in a friendly way. Worry began to build up inside him as he hoped none of them would attack the Fury. Even Toothless seemed to notice this, as the Night Fury was periodically looking back to his cousin. "Windwalker; mind telling us why every dragon around here is eyeing you like a prey?" he asked.

'Well, you do recall how I said that Bewilderbeasts are ice elementals, don't you?' he asked, earning a quick nod from Hiccup in return. 'And you do recall how I told you both mine's and Toothless' species rank high in the dragon society… don't you?' he asked again, earning another quick nod and increasing Hiccup's worries. He couldn't understand where did Windwalker wanted to go with those questions, and couldn't stop to think about, not if he wanted to keep those Hobblegrunts at bay.

Fortunately, the Night Fury's cousin clarified things for him. 'Well, the thing is… they think I'm here to challenge their Alpha, and they're ready to protect the Bewilderbeast at all costs' he timidly explained. There was no chance they could hold themselves against an entire nest, much less against a Bewilderbeast. And to keep up his tough demeanor would only serve to make those dragons more aggressive.

Before any of them could lung after the White Fury, the mysterious rider appeared out of nowhere, landing between Hiccup and the Hobblegrunts. The masked rider hit his staff on the ground, making an eerie buzzing noise that, somehow, made all the wild dragons step back and produce a low fire within their mouths, acting like torches.

Hiccup's legs began to lightly shake at the sight of the rider. He wasn't intimidating because he was as big as his father, and didn't even seem to be very tall. He was intimidating because of his appearance. The odd painted armor he was wearing made him look like a dragon, concealing every human trail he had. Not only that, but the rider was half-standing half-walking like a dragon, albeit not crawling like one, making the whole situation even more creepier.

Toothless began snarling and slowly advanced toward the rider, putting himself between the mysterious figure and Hiccup. The boy pointed Inferno at him before addressing the rider. He didn't want to cause any violence, but if those dragons were really under his control (which was a frightening thought by itself) then it would mean he was responsible from the dragons trying to kidnap them. "Who are you? A-and if those dragons a-are yours, why did y-you try to kidnap us?" he asked, slightly stuttering because of his nervousness.

The rider didn't answer (Hiccup was beginning to doubt if he could talk at all) and, despite having Inferno pointed at him, he began advancing. "C-can you talk?" he asked. No response, again, came from the rider, as he seemed to be focused on Toothless. "Do you even understand what I'm saying?" he asked, but more curiously than warily, only to receive no response again.

The rider crouched, dropping his shield and staff. Toothless growls became louder, but soon stopped once the rider extended his hand. He did a weird motion with it and, much to Hiccup's, Heather's and Windwalker's shock, made Toothless roll down on the ground, as if he was in a trance. Hiccup retracted Inferno's blade, dousing its fire in the process, before putting his hands in front of him, showing they meant no harm. Even he couldn't do that to a dragon, especially one as possessive as a Night Fury.

The rider approached him, making him and Heather step back twice. "I-we don't m-mean any harm" he spoke with a quavering voice. He faintly heard Heather call his name from behind but didn't speak back; he was exclusively focused on the approaching rider and protecting her should the masked figure try anything.

Suddenly, the rider stopped a foot or two away from Hiccup's face. "Hiccup?" he asked with a muffed voice, although it sounded strange for a man. Hiccup and Heather froze on spot, completely taken aback at how the figure knew Hiccup's name. His mind went back to the day his mother was taken away, trying to remember if this masked rider had been there.

The rider backed away and slowly removed the mask, further increasing the couple's surprise. It turned out the rider was a she, a woman probably nearing her middle age, if the few strays of grey hair were any indication. Much like Hiccup and Heather she also had vibrant forest-green eyes. Hiccup couldn't remember much of his mother, but he knew she also had green eyes, like his. A thought came to his mind: 'could it be?'

Almost if she had just read his mind she spoke, "could it be?" almost like she was voicing his own thoughts, "After all those years…" she added, almost like in disbelief. Heather was lost, her fear fading away as she didn't see any hostility from the woman or the dragons surrounding her. It helped that Windwalker, who was at her side, seemed to be calm, unlike his previous behavior moments ago.

"Do…" he began speaking but stopped to swallow. He was nervous, but no longer because they were facing an unknown rider and were trapped, but now because that small thought he just have was growing to a hunch. Still, he was afraid of voicing out his question because a part of him couldn't believe she could actually be alive. Still, he gathered enough courage to finish his question: "Do-should I know you?" he asked.

"I don't think so…" she asked and by her tone she sounded like she was either saddened or disappointed, Hiccup couldn't point out which one. "You were only a child" she added slowly, ripping his insides into two. He was completely torn apart, since either the woman before him was his mother, or the one behind his mother's kidnapping and death. North was the only place left for him to look, and everywhere he looked there had been no traces of Valka Haddock.

"But a mother never forgets" she added after a pregnant silence. Hiccup, Heather and Windwalker gasped (nobody paid attention to it, but Hiccup would have been laughing hard. He never thought Windwalker could actually gasp) hearing this. She took a step toward Hiccup, only to make him give one backwards. Inferno slowly left his grip, and fell into the ground. The silence between them was only broken when metal hit rock with a clanking noise, until the blade stopped moving.

She stopped; an expression of shock and hurt on her face. He was lightly shaking his head. "no, no, that can't be possible, can it?" he asked, mumbling to himself. She looked away from him, afraid that being away from 11 years caused him to hate her guts for never returning, for abandoning him. Little did she know that he spent an entire year of his life searching for her. "After an entire year… I finally did this" he said, and Valka overheard it.

She looked at him, the expression of hurt she had just seconds ago was replaced by one of confusing. Heather, who had covered her mouth when she gasped, slowly lowered her hands, only to reveal a giant smile on her face, almost cracking it in two. This only served to further increase Valka's confusion, since she couldn't understand. 'Isn't Hiccup mad at me?' she questioned herself mentally.

But the confusion she had until now was nothing compared to the shock and surprise that she felt the moment Hiccup, as quickly as a Speed Stinger, wrapped her into the strongest hug he could muster (it wasn't much, at least not compared to Stoick's and Gobber's death hugs he was wrapped before). "I did it…" he said, his voice muffed as his head was buried in the crook of her neck. "I finally found you" he added, his voice cracking as tears began to fell from his eyes.

Valka's eyes widened hearing this, although she didn't dare to break his hug and ask the questions that were frantically buzzing around her mind. Instead, she did what a mother who hasn't seen her son in 11 years would do: she returned the hug with equal passion and longing. Heather just stood there, one arm around Windwalker's neck, tears falling from her eyes. They were tears of happiness, and if anyone doubted that then they could just look at the giant smile she had on her face.

Both mother and son stood still, hugging each other while they shed their own tears. Valka was at last reunited with her son again, after being 11 years away from Berk. The longing she felt all this time came out freely, along with the unimaginable happiness of being with her baby boy once more. She didn't even think about questioning him why and how he had an entire drove of dragons, not to mention two Furies, with him, or even who the pretty lady with him was.

Hiccup, meanwhile, cried on her shoulders, happy beyond imagination. After an entire year of travelling the Archipelago, of almost losing hope, facing hunger, new dragons, bandits and pirates, he finally found her. His brain had, more than once, told him to give up, to head back to Berk, or even to go face the Red Death to bring peace, but his heart always made him keep going, always pushed him forward because it never stopped believing, not even for a second, that he would find her. And, turns out, his heart had been right all this time, and the person who had been the reason he both shot down and later befriended Toothless was finally in his arms, just like he dreamed since he left Berk.

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**ANII: i hope you guys liked it, and I'd love to hear your opinions about it. Before anyone PMs me about it, i'll say: i will ONLY work up this fiction BOTH after the release of HTTYD 2 on DVD and after finishing How To Become a Dragon Chief. This fic will use many elements of the second movie (as shown up here) and will take considerable effort into writing it. I wish to finish my first fiction before beginning this one.****_Until next time comrades._**


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